Catholic League (France)

The Catholic League was a league of French Catholic nobles led by the House of Guise during the French Wars of Religion. The league was formed in 1576 with the unstated aim of securing the French throne for Henry I, Duke of Guise, a rival of the conciliating King Henry III of France and the Protestant Huguenots. The Pope and Habsburg Spain backed the Catholic League, but the Duke of Guise was assassinated in 1588, and King Henry was assassinated a year later. The Catholic League's defeat at the Battle of Coutras allowed for the Protestant king Henry of Navarre to become King of France upon Henry III's assassination, and the league dissolved.